"Papplewick Ward"

On the 24th July I was sent to the QMC by my GP, with suspected angina, after various tests at the Admissions Unit, I was informed that I, had suffered an heart attack and would be transferred to the City Hospital, this was at 1530 hrs finally at 20.30 hrs, the transport arrived to take me to Papplewick Ward at City Hospital, whilst at the admissions unit, I was well cared for and given drinks and sandwiches as well as hourly BP checks.

On arrival I, was well looked after by the night staff and allocated a nice side room, I, was hooked up to the heart monitors after have the necessary swabs taken which I understand is now standard on admission, which I feel is a very good system.

I, had an angiogram on the Tuesday and my consultant told me the next day, that they needed for me to have a Cardiac MRI before finally deciding further treatment.

The results weren't what we wanted to hear but the Consultant met my family on the Wednesday and answered all our questions.

Whilst on the ward I was asked to move to another side room to allow a seriously ill person to be close to the Nurse Station, I was asked to sit in the lounge whilst the room was cleaned, this took around 1 hour, the next day 1 of the contract cleaning staff was complaining that they were late finishing the day before because they had to change the curtains in my side room and give the room a good clean.

I was very impressed to see the Ward Manager helping out with bed making, serving lunch and cleaning the monitoring equipment etc. I understand they had not long been in post but all the ward staff spoke highly of their hands on approach, also they sat with me and talked things through with me, which I found very comforting.

The food I found to be quite good but only having a 1 week menu it did become rather boring into my 2nd week, having watch James Martin Series on hospital food last year, I think the Catering Director should get James to teach the staff how to make soup, which was so thin it was almost see through, but suppose it all comes down to contract caterers making a big profit.

Responses

Hi Robert. Thanks for providing such detailed feedback. I’m pleased to read that you have been so well cared for with us on Papplewick and elsewhere in the Trust. Your comments on how we can make the experience of future patients even better are very much noted – including better soup and also reminding colleagues that they are ‘on stage’ and to be mindful when their conversations can be overheard by patients.